Sto Emerging Architecture Prize at the RWA 2024

16 September 2024

This year marked a key move in the Royal West of England Academy's programming for architecture at the annual open exhibition - now in its 171st year. Firstly, was the reintroduction of the 'Architecture' submission category. Secondly, this year included the inaugural Sto Emerging Architecture Prize at the RWA.


The prize was open to any architectural submission which was selected and hung for the annual open exhibition, whereby the artist was a student or had graduated in the last four years. The breadth of entries was staggering, including hand drawing, digital line drawing, model making, collage, AI, and rendering. It was also observed that the quality of entries was not discernible by whether an entry was by a Part 1, 2, or 3 graduate as all work selected was excellent in its communication of architecture and the built environment.


The Methuen Gallery contains most of the architectural entries and has been filled with students, graduates, practitioners and masters alike. The space also includes works by photographers, sculptors, painters and printmakers all communicating the built environment. The resulting gallery is specifically not an 'architecture room', but a cohesive part of the wider annual open that facilitates the multitude of ways one can communicate materials, emotions, ideas and spatial expression.


For this year's prize, judges George Ferguson RWA PPRIBA, Karl Singporewala RWA RIBA and Amy Croft Head Curator of Sto Global, were looking for excellence in craft and communication. The judging was based solely on the artwork in front of them. They awarded first prize to a striking copper and timber study model for Trefusis Community Centre by Nathan Stevenson, a Part 1 graduate from Falmouth University who is now working at Hayatsu Architects. The judges also agreed to award two highly commended certificates. Ade Olaosebikan's impeccable exploded line drawing based on the Villa Savoye and also Michael Paul Lewis for his triple lectern of stunning hand drawn sketch books which document ten years-worth of design ideas and concepts - an architect's sketchbooks have never looked so good!


When discussing the power and influence of showcasing work at the academies as well as the importance of the Sto Emerging Architecture prize, judge Singporewala recalled his own experience as a student eighteen years ago, when his student work was hung in the RA Summer Exhibition. It led directly to a job offer from the academician Prof Ian Ritchie RA who had hung the gallery that year, resulting in ten wonderful years of work at Ritchie Studio.


The RWA 171st Annual Open exhibition is now open to the public until the 05 January 2025 in Bristol. With over 600 art works selected, this exhibition succeeds in the Royal West of England Academy's remit to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts, which has and always will include architecture.